Page 39 of There's Only One Sleigh
“Another new experience,” I tell him as I make myself comfortable. “I’ll have to thank your sister for the jeans because I don’t think this straw would work with leggings.”
“A bit prickly, I’d imagine.” He takes the paper bag and peeks inside before giving me that heart-stopping grin. “Four? Did you have to fight anybody?”
“I’m not going to answer that.”
He laughs and pulls out a snickerdoodle, handing it to me. “Did you try one yet?”
“No, I wanted to wait for you.”
I’m rewarded for my restraint with a warm smile so potent my body reacts as though he’s caressed my cheek. “Trust me, they’re worth waiting for.”
Because I know he won’t eat his own cookies until he’s seen me taste mine, I take a big bite of the snickerdoodle. When I close my eyes with a deep moan of appreciation, I’m not exaggerating.
“I told you!” He took his cookie out of the bag and devoured it in two bites.
“If I’d known they were this good, I would have hid behind a building and eaten all four.”
He laughs, taking the other two cookies out of the bag and handing me one. “I believe you would have.”
We take our time savoring these cookies and drinking our coffees. There are plenty of people to watch, and with his leg pressing along the length of mine, I’m not in a hurry to move.
“I should probably warn you,” he says, “we have a tradition forafterthe Christmas fair, too.”
“Of course you do.”
“We hang out at the inn and watchElfwhile we eat baked macaroni and cheese.”
“Maybe I’ll sneak a bowl of it up to my room when nobody’s looking.”
“Nope, that’s cheating. You only get the carbs and cheese if you sit through the movie.”
“Rob, my job here is done. And that’s your family time. I really don’t belong there.”
His shoulders straighten, and he frowns. “What? Of course you belong there.”
Oh, how I wish he meant that the way my heart took it. “I’m not family. I work for your brother-in-law.”
“You did most of the work. And you helped with the wrapping and…no. I want you there.”
There was something about the way he said it that twisted me up inside—like maybe hedidmean it the way I wished he would. “Okay. I’m in.”
He gives me a sheepish grin. “Okay. But in that case, I have an additional warning, actually.”
“Maybe we should get somehazard aheadstickers printed up for your family.”
“We’d definitely put some on the casserole dishes. The Byrne Family Baked Macaroni and Cheese recipe is…not great.” He wrinkles his nose in a most adorable way. “Actually, the recipe’s probably fine, but the execution would get us booted off a reality cooking show before the first commercial break.”
After we’re finished with the cookies and coffee, we wander around the Charming Lake Christmas Fair for hours, and it’s great to see the community enjoy the work Rob and I did. We watch the preschoolers having a blast in the candy cane maze. The sledding runs are a huge success. And I actually tear up a little watching the kids climb on to the sleigh to have their photos taken with Santa and get their Santa Fund gifts.
By the time the festivities start winding down, my feet hurt and my stomach aches from laughing. I don’t mind, though, because between the joyful vibe of the town and the man I shared it with, the Charming Lake Christmas Fair was the best day of my life.
But it doesn’t take long, once everybody’s back at the inn, for that festive glow to fade. And it starts with the thought that’s running through my head as the Byrne family pulls out the massive casserole dish of baked macaroni and cheese, triggering fake smiles all around.
I wish my mom was here. She would love this family and their holiday shenanigans.
The truth is,Ilove this family and their holiday shenanigans. But I don’t think I can go into the family room with them and watch a Christmas movie and whatever else their traditions call for.
I can’t be a part of their family gathering because I’m not family. But I also can’t join in and pretend I’m just Donovan’s assistant being included out of kindness because Rob feels like more than that to me and I’m not sure we can hide that.
